Alice in Wonderland: The Maddness Returns
by Annasharpex
Summary: Once again Alice finds herself in wonderland, but this time, its different. Everything is wrong and Alice gets the feeling that she is the only one who can help; but there are complications: who is stalking her? why does everything seem to lead back to Alice? who will steal her heart? With the resident under a curse that could go terribly wrong any minute, how will Alice survive?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one: down the rabbit hole **__

_**~Authors note~**_

_**Okay so this is my very first fanfic and I'm kinda nervous about posting it. First of all I hope that you enjoy it! And secondly, if you can think of some ways to improve it then tell me! I am a real person with real thoughts so I can be spoken to. **_

A burning pain engulfed her, obliterating all coherent thoughts. She felt a blinding panic as realisation slapped her like a cold hand. Alice didn't know where she was; in that moment she didn't know anything but the torrent of blackness that had invaded her very being. Then, out of the omnipotent nothingness, the sharp winds arrived; their powerful fury snatching away her strained breaths. Falling, falling, falling; the dark abyss went on forever.

After a long while (Alice didn't know how long but it felt like days!) she began to feel lethargic and her eyelids drooped. Suddenly: bang! The jolt of impact shocked and rattled her bones. Alice had reached the end of her fall. The ground that greeted her was cold and dark but somehow she felt no pain other than a slight throbbing in her ears, reminiscence of the sharp winds.

Alice picked herself up and glanced around. She could not see anything of the dark well above her but the walls were glittered and spattered with colour. Small ridges and ledges were scattered randomly around and resting on them were all number of delights: on some there were luxurious fruits and exotic sweets and on others lay small keys. In fact, looking around, Alice could see thousands of keys. All haphazardly thrown into corners and peeping holes in which they hid.

There was a doorway, but it had no keyhole and Alice was curious as to why there were so many keys. Pushing on the door, it swung open revealing an extensive garden consisting of many plants and flowers of all shapes and sizes. Alice remembered that garden from last time she had been here, all those years ago.

After almost an hour of wandering, Alice found herself at a large oak and sitting beneath it was a boy. He looked to be about 17 (Alice's own age) but he had one of those faces where he could well have been 20. He did not look up as Alice approached, in fact he didn't seem to be moving at all. He just sat there, staring into the distance with such ferocity that she felt quite uncomfortable. Although Alice could have sworn she had never seen him before, his luscious purple curls tinged memories of her last visit to wonderland.

"I am in wonderland again aren't I?" she said to the boy- more looking to start a conversation and stop him from doing all that awful staring than to kill her unease. The boy merely looked up at her with a wry smile. His eyes were slit, like a cat, and they were a bright gold in colour. Despite it being odd for a boy to have purple hair, it looked natural and completely ordinary on the boy.

"Alice my dear" he purred, "do you not recognise my home?" He chuckled and it sounded like deep bells ringing. "I suppose you do not recognise me either." He stood up gracefully and grinned. The smile hit her with such an immense feeling of déjà vu that Alice almost stumbled. Suddenly, he popped out of existence. Too fast for Alice to comprehend what an earth was happening, he popped back again, just several foot above his last whereabouts. His legs were dangling over the edge of one of the closest branches above Alice. Her mouth swung open. The purple haired boys smile was unfaltering as he grinned down at her.

"Cheshire cat, Is that you? " Alice said quizzically. "But you were a cat! And now you're…. not." Alice voice haltered as she took in the former cats rather pleasing appearance. Seeing her blush, the Cheshire's grin spread even wider across his face, despite it being aimed at her, Alice couldn't help but join in.

"I was a cat, and now I'm not. Who can explain the logic? I must say that I rather like the change, don't you?" Alice blushed again. "I think it has something to do with the fact that the queen had an argument with logic; or does that not make any sense? I'm ever so bad at explanations." Alice smiled shyly and looked down at the ground; her bare feet looked dreadfully pale compared to the bright spring grass. When she looked up again, Cheshire was nowhere to be seen.

She couldn't remember why she was down here again. The fall down the rabbit hole was devastatingly familiar but she couldn't remember actually falling down. What had she been doing before she arrived here? All she could remember was pain. Why pain? The sensation scared her to her very core.

She continued on her travels and walked towards a rather sad looking bunch of roses. They had a melancholy beauty- if that is even possible. It seemed to Alice as if there sadness made them stunning. Their bright petals of red and white looked downwards with an elegance only attained by a graceful dancer. "Why do you look so sad?" she asked. Although it may be strange to talk to flowers, Alice's knowledge of wonderland made her confident that they would be able to answer.

"We… we are sad… because…" the white rose that had spoken stifled sobs that interrupted its speech in a terrifically depressing manner. "We are sad" it began again, "because…. We are sad."

"Well no, surely something happened that made you sad? One cannot become sad because they are sad." Alice said, trying not to offend the rose but becoming rather irritated by its consistent sobbing.

"What she means to say is that we are sad because we used to be happy." Said a neighbouring red rose.

After some consideration Alice decided that this was just as equally unhelpful. She said through gritted teeth: "I mean only to be polite, but your words make no sense!"

"If you meant only to be polite then you would have minded your own business in the first place" a particularly small red rose retorted. Alice become particularly angered by its words and stormed off to more insistent sobbing.

"Don't mind them," said a voice. "They're merely in the wrong place being the wrong people." As if empowered by Alice's confused look, the voice continued. "They used to be tulips you see, they all did. But they woke up one morning and found themselves transformed in their flowers beds into roses. They haven't managed to stop crying since."

Alice still couldn't manage to locate the voice but she felt a pang of sympathy toward the roses; she knew how it felt to be in the wrong place. "Are you sad as well?" Alice asked tentatively, hoping that the source of the voice would reveal itself to her.

"I am not sad, I am just confused"

"And why are you confused?" Alice asked again, hoping that they didn't find her insistent questions rude.

"Because I don't know who I am anymore" and although its words were depressing it said it in such a cheerful manner that Alice couldn't help but smile.

"Well, what do other people think that you are?" inquired Alice.

"They don't think of me at all" he sighed (Alice had deduced that it was definitely a male voice). Try as she might to get him to speak again, she couldn't. The voice didn't speak again so she carried on walking towards the woods in front of her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two: That is a big mushroom**

The mushroom before her was ludicrously large. In fact, Alice was quite certain that it could house several of her siblings and there'd still be room for guests! Although in height it was quite stout (Alice had to stand on tip-toes to see over the top of it) its width was enormous. When she had reached a position in which she could comfortably pull herself up, she did just that and found herself looking in to the eyes of a muscular boy. Her position on the mushroom was rather uncomfortable, but since neither the boy, nor Alice had broken eye contact, she daren't move. They looked at each other for some time in silence: at last the boy moved. He flicked her nose and addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice.

"Who are you?" said the boy. This was not an encouraging opening for conversation.

"I-I am Alice Liddell," she said, the boys stare was making her nervous. "Who are you?" she asked tentatively. Ignoring the question the boy stood up and held a hand towards her. Grudgingly, Alice took it.

"Not yet." He said, in a voice like gold. Alice looked him over. He was a good half a foot taller than she and had dark brown hair. His eyes were hazel laced with gold and silver; he was very exotic looking. He wore a tight dark green jumper and blue jeans. Everything about him was appealing to Alice except for the pipe he held in his hand.

She reached for his outstretched hand but he withdrew it and walked a couple steps away from her: how rude! Pulling herself from her crouching position and dusting off the sapphire blue dress which she wore, she followed him. He scowled at her and said, "How can you be sure that you are Alice?"

"W-well I suppose… I just know!" she said, determined not to let the boy get the better of her. He scowled again and looked her up and down. Alice shifted her weight self-consciously. "What is your name?" she said stubbornly.

"Absalom." He said, not averting his gaze.

"That's a lovely name!" Alice cried delightfully, "So unique."

Absalom merely smirked and jumped gracefully of off the mushroom. Alice stood at the edge and he put his arms around her waist and helped her down. "Come, I have something to show you."

He led her round the mushroom anticlockwise so that they were opposite to where they had last been. And there on the wall of the mushroom, was a drawing of a girl. She looked fierce as the world around her crumbled and in her hand she held a glistening sword. Her blond curls circled her head like a halo. She was wearing a black dress that glistened and shook in the wind. The picture was devastatingly beautiful but there was something off about the girl. Alice reached a hand out to touch the engravings but Absalom slapped it away; she peered closer at it.

Suddenly, she realised, the girl was her! "That girl… who is she?" she asked, her voice wavering with fear. How did they have a drawing of her? The scratching's looked to be older than her! A pang of fear and longing hit her in the stomach as she whimpered. "I just want to go home."

"It is a prophecy, one that is as old as the woods around you." Absalom gestured at the gnarled trees and branches she had just walked through: had they always looked so menacing? "It tells of the day the war will be ended and the jabberwocky slain."

"What war?" Alice asked she had begun to get extremely panicked now.

"The war that blazes around us and kills my people," the strong boy looked sad and Alice had to fight the urge to reach out a delicate hand to his face. "A war between two sisters and their armies: one that shall only end when every living being is dead and darkness consumes the world."

Absalom's colourful eyes had gone a dark shade of black and he stood taller. His empowered words seemed to rage the trees around him and the winds picked up there Gail. "But what has this got to do with me?"

His face softened for a minute as he looked down at the small girl, her eyes wide with fear. "You are the descended: the only person who can come and go through wonderland freely. You alone have the power to save us; let's just hope you're not as useless as you look." He sighed.

"Save you from what?" Alice wondered, but before Absalom could answer a great beating of wings could be heard. A whooshing sound so powerful that Alice had to cover her ears rang through the little alcove in which she and the boy stood.

Something was coming; something big; something extremely powerful. Instinctively Alice took refuge under the mushrooms dotted ridge and peered out. There before her was an enormous, fantastical beast. It had four legs, two wings, and a beak, with eagle-like talons in place of a lion's forelegs and feathered, and equine-like ears jutting from the skull. Its legs were that of a lion: powerful and extremely muscular; its tail was the same golden brown. But those wings… oh the wings! They were the most magnificent thing that Alice had ever seen. She stepped out from under the mushroom, her mouth hanging open. The gryphon pawed the ground and exhaled. Its massive, pointed beak was directly facing her and its eyes searched her face for any signs of danger.

"I'm not going to hurt you," she said gently. Beside her she heard Absalom sigh as if he had been holding his breath. She hadn't even noticed that they had been holding hands till he let go.

The gryphon took a step towards her. Alice wasn't sure what to do. She so greatly wanted to reach out and touch the feathers that fluffed on its forehead but that beak looked like it would snap her hand off as soon as look at her.

And the weirdest thing happened: the gryphon started to laugh.

**~authors note~**

**I'm really enjoying writing this but it would be great if I got some ideas from you guys! I've already planned everything but I'm totally flexible and would love to know what my little pumpkins are thinking. That sounded weird… anywayyyy… If it's your birthday today: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! If it's not: HAPPY UN-BIRTHDAY! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three: laughter and flying**

The sound boomed and reverberated through the forest. Its magnificence brought everything to life: the trees started to whisper and sway; the grass suddenly seemed greener and the sun shone brighter in the pure blue sky. Even that big ol' mushroom seemed to relish in the delightful cacophony. The gryphon laughed; Absalom laughed; Alice laughed. The chorus of joy ricocheted in Alice's ears. She no longer felt fear: in fact, she couldn't even recollect a single bad memory.

Absalom grabbed her hand and suddenly he was carrying Alice onto the gryphons back. She swung her legs over his side and nestled down into its feathers, still giggling splendidly. Absalom did the same and put his hands on her hips. Alice was glad he couldn't see her face because she was blushing fiercely.

Without warning, the gryphon leapt into the sky, its great wings pulling them towards the clouds. She put her arms out like a bird and felt her heart flutter blissfully. Alice had always dreamt of flying: her whole life she had felt trapped on earth; isolated to the cold confinements of the soiled ground, forced to watch as the birds soared out of her reach. But now… "I'm free!" she yelled gleefully. She couldn't think of a time when she had ever been so happy.

Absalom chuckled in her ear; she looked over her shoulder at him and saw him smiling down at her. She suddenly became conscious of how close they were. She could feel his stomach muscles inclining as he breathed and the warmth of his body was truly alluring: it seemed to fill her up as if she was a cup being filled with tea. She wondered if they even had tea in wonderland. Imagine that: a world without tea!

The smooth flight was interrupted momentarily as an object hurtled swiftly through the air towards them. At first Alice thought it was a bird; small and swift it could well have been a wren or a skylark; something similar. But on closer inspection she caught a glimpse of silver light as the sun shone on something metal. It was made of metal; metal and wood. Alice could not think of any bird with such properties. What is it? She felt Absalom tense and knew that he had seen it too.

"Gryphon watch o-," but that was all he managed to say before the sharp arrow found its mark in the great beast's wing- just inches from Alice's head. The creature tried desperately to continue its flight but the arrow had struck a bone and he couldn't use his wing properly. Alice looked into its eyes and saw the same panicked look that must be mirrored in her own. They took a dreadful plummet downwards. They were all going to die.

**~authors note~**

**Sorry for how short it is guys! I didn't want to carry on because I felt like I needed to create the suspense. I'll just have to make it up to y'all by writing the next one really long, ok? Does the gryphon die? Who knows? (I do! Mwahahaha *becomes cabbage and jumps into the sea*)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four: A White World**

The world around her was a blaze of colour and fierce light that burned Alice's eyes. She couldn't see anything but the lubricant swirls that preoccupied her mind and burned her insides. Her legs were numb but her upper body was ransacked with a sharp pain that brought tears to her eyes; Alice refused to cry: crying would not do anything to help. Although Alice could feel the hard, cold surface beneath her, she felt as if she were floating. Floating high above the ground and with every shuddering intake of breath, she crashed all over again.

Alice took a last rib cracking breath and forced her eyes open. Despite the day being dark and cloudy, natural light felt like a blade to her nervous system. She quickly closed them again; trying to gather her thoughts. Where was she? What had happened to gryphon? The gryphon! She ripped open her eyelids and glanced downwards. There, on her legs, was a pound of meat and feathers. The gryphon was lying across her- no wonder she couldn't feel anything from her waist down!

"Oh no," Alice thought, "What if I have been paralyzed?" lying back down she tried to settle her breaths. "Panicking is not going to do you any good," she told herself (rather harshly). Firstly, she decided to check if she still had access to her legs. Taking a deep breath, she wiggled her toes. Relief flooded through her and she sighed (afterwards she wished she hadn't as it sent a roaring pain through her lungs).

Discovering that she was not paralysed after all was a great relief; however, what good is your lower body if it is pinned beneath something ten times one's own weight? And try as she might she could not lift the great beast off of her. She was screwed, and she knew it. "This is bloody brilliant this is!" she thought to herself, "now something's probably going to eat me." Alice's pain was excruciating and she knew she had no hope. Finally, after hours of pent up pain and frustration, she allowed herself to cry.

"Crying is not going to help you know," a voice purred in her ear.

"Cat, is that you? Oh thank the queen!" she heard a soft chuckle and looked to her left: bright orange eyes held her gaze.

"You look like you could use some help." Said Cheshire cat, and with that he vanished: popped out of existence.

"Cat! Cheshire cat! You can't just leave me here!" Alice cried desperately. She wasn't sad any more, she was just pissed: majorly.

After another hour of mindless pain and struggling helplessly, Alice finally heard the stomp of feet. Relief swept through her and she was about to cry out for help when she heard an accompanying noise: the soft growl of a wild animal. Alice lay deadly still. Perhaps if she didn't make any noise it would go away? She turned her head- as slowly as possible- towards the source of the growling. It was like nothing she had ever seen before: great powerful legs; slender snout; ferociously razor-sharp teeth. It could have been mistaken as a dog if it wasn't standing on its hind legs- and wasn't yellow.

The great beast took a few steps forward and bared its acute teeth; glaring right at her. Her stomach contorted in nervous spasms of fear as its red eyes got closer and closer. Her ambitions at hiding were pointless; it had already sensed its weak prey. She tried once again to shove the dead gryphon off her but it neither stirred nor budged (she wasn't expecting it too but it was worth a try). Once that failed, she searched around her for a weapon. Laying a few paces to her left was a stray branch. It wasn't particularly sharp but it was better than nothing. Still looking at the creature, she reached behind her; fingertips brushed the wood. It had gotten scarily close: so close in fact that she could feel its sour breath brace her skin.

With one last panicked effort she reached for her only hope; and her fingers curled around the wood. Just at that moment the beast lunged at her, mouth wide open, teeth ready to impale her head. Alice whipped the branch into the abominations throat. It staggered, blood was flowing from the wound but Alice knew that she hadn't killed it. Hopefully she had scared it off? Answering her inner conflict, it attacked again.

BANG, BANG! The creature slumped to the floor, two arrows sticking out of its chest. A final one stuck out of its eye in such a grotesque manner that she felt inclined to turn away before she was sick. Someone had saved her from being digested by that thing, but not before it could graze her head with one of its canines. She could feel the sticky warmth of her own blood. Consequently, she fainted, but not before she saw a pair of gold slit eyes looking down at her.

All Alice could think about was how soft heaven was. If she was dead (and she presumed that she was) she was glad that heaven was fluffy and warm. How had she died again? Alice couldn't remember, and frankly, she didn't care. She was so exhausted. Every muscle in her body screamed at her as she turned over and- plonk. Alice's eyes flew open, only to be greeted by a hard wooden floor. "Ow..." she moaned and sat up. As soon as she opened her eyes, she wished she hadn't. Everything was so colourful! It made her groan.

As her eyes adjusted to the lights, she took in the magnificent fineries around her. The walls were a soft white, as were the floor and ceiling. There was a large bed next to her that she scrambled into, embracing the warmth of the thick duvet and memory foam pillows. A four poster bed! She hadn't slept in one of those before. She rejoiced that she wasn't dead and felt herself let out a suppressed giggle.

The room she was in was large but homely. Directly across from her bed was a cream coloured wooden fire place and although there was no fire, heat seemed to magically radiate from it. To her left was a white silk chair embroidered with pearls. And delicately laid out upon it was a dress; oh what a dress! It was full piece with skirts that touched the floor and transparent arms made of a soft fabric that Alice couldn't name. It was a magnificent sea blue with little white embroideries of waves around the cuffs and edges. It was stunning. It was hers.

She grudgingly pulled her aching body from beneath the blankets and steeped over to the dress. Across from her was a mirrored wardrobe- she looked awful. A door next to the chair led her to a petite en suite in which she washed up. After feeling a little fresher, she put on the dress. Staring at herself in the mirror she sighed. She didn't look as terrible, and the dress hugged her curves in all the right ways; but she still looked tired as hell. Sighing again she brushed her hair and went out into a (surprise, surprise) white corridor.

After wandering through many white corridors identical to the first, Alice found herself in a large ballroom. It was beautiful. The ceilings were a deep blue and from them hang silver ribbons that swayed to and fro in a breeze that seemed non-existent to Alice. The high ceilings were supported by Greek looking coliseums and a double facing staircase looked upon the opposite wall. Alice could imagine how she would feel, walking down the wide steps in an elegant dress. All the guests would turn and stare at its splendour, and she would smile warmly; searching the crowd for her lover (not that she had a lover).

Alice had only ever been to a dance once in her life; and that was only a stupid ball that her mother had hosted to find Alice a courtesan. Her mother was obsessed with Alice getting married. Although she couldn't fathom the thought herself, her mother had searched the country for noble men that Alice might take a liking too. Of course, none of them had been appropriate for her: some were too old; some were too rich; some treated their maids in such appalling manners. Once, whilst dining at Sir Humphrey's mansion, Alice had caught henry – the lord's son – whipping his maid. She had immediately interfered and demanded that he stop. When he continued to torture the poor servant: Alice took the young maid by the hand and left. Elizabeth (that was the girl's name) now worked for her and her mother.

However, the main reason for Alice's denial was that of the disgraceful lack of imagination that the men seemed to display. How can one live in such a dull mind? Surely they must get bored with all there pointlessly serious thoughts? Consequently, no-one seemed appealing to Alice and so she vowed to herself not to get married; just to go travelling. She was convinced that she would be the first woman to travel the world.

Alice felt a light tap on her back, awakening her from her thoughts. She turned around and was greeted by an angel. She was pale, but not sickeningly. Her long her was flowing from her back in white curls that looked like an avalanche of snow. Her slender body was clothed in a dress that looked as if it had been pieced together by tiny snowflakes that glittered in the faint light. Her ruby red lips made her ice blue eyes shine as if they were little stars. Her cheeks were a rosy red.

"Hello," Alice said dumbfounded.

"Hello," the young women said with a voice like honey.

"Hello," Alice said again, totally unaware that she sounded silly. The women giggled in such a way that made Alice beam.

"You don't know who I am, do you?"

"No sorry, should I?" Alice asked uncertainly.

"Not at all, I am the white Queen. And you," she said, bobbing Alice on the nose with her finger, "are lucky to be alive. That bandersnatch nearly ate you hole." She laughed again and smiled down at Alice. "Thankfully Shire told me that the girl from the prophecy was stuck under a gryphon. At first I didn't believe him: he does like to play tricks. But, there you were, yellow curls and all, under a gryphon!" she said delightedly, "Alice Liddell, we finally meet."

Alice wasn't sure what to do in way of answering, so she just smiled and shrugged. How did a queen know her name? And up pops that prophecy again; the one that she was unsuccessfully trying to avoid. Alice sighed.

"Come my dear," said the queen, lightly pushing Alice by the shoulders, "my son is dying to meet you."

**~authors note~**

**Alright guys, there you have it! The longest chapter yet. Because I'm on holiday at the moment I have a lot of free time to write and publish chapters. Unfortunately, school is calling so I won't have enough time to post as often . I'll try to post at least once a week. Keeping reviewing! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five: the boy with brown eyes**

**A/N sorry that I haven't updated this story in a little while; I've just had lots going on, so sorry about that. I'm not sure who to make as Alice's love interest. Any suggestions? Review pretty please with a million cherries on top (you won't get fat because cherries are fruit- although technically a co-co bean is a fruit…). Read away my pretties!**

The boy with the brown eyes was particularly uninteresting. He was good looking sure, but he had sandy brown hair and dark eyes that were devastatingly ordinary compared to the crazy world of wonderland. At the moment he was standing against the tree, its branches obscuring the sunlight and shadowing his face. He was tall, but not like, giraffe tall and his shoulders sloped downwards as he stared off somewhere into the distance. He looked watchful, interested in something far off. That was the second thing she liked about him: his expression of deep thought that made you think he was on the brink of something wonderful. The first of course were his eyes.

"Choal!" the Wight queen called out to the boy. "The descended is here." The boy turned his face to Alice and smiled, his lips crinkling at the corners. The queen went over to the boy and took his hand, squeezing it affectionately. Then she turned to Alice and said: "Choal is going to teach you how to fight and tell you more about the prophecy."

The prophecy? Oh yes, the one that Absalom had… wait a minute- Absalom? Where was he? She hadn't even seen him after the gryphon had fallen. Oh no… had he died? Alice didn't like him particularly but she didn't want him to die. She didn't want anyone to die. Although Alice's parents had made her attend karate classes till she was 10 she wouldn't- or couldn't- hurt anything; not even a bug. She could be tough if she had to be, but she thought that violence was always unnecessary.

"Do you know Absalom?" Alice randomly interrupted. She watched as the queens smiling face faltered slightly before reacquainting its perfect, uninterrupted smile.

"No, not really; He is one of my sister's citizens, though he doesn't really care for such things as politics. He tends to stick to the outskirts, very isolated!" she said with a chuckle and left leaving Alice alone with the brown eyed boy. She looked back in his direction and spotted a colourful bird in the tree. It was stunning: a collection of purples and blues and yellows that crated such a magnificent, elegant beast. She inched closer to it and it ruffled it feathers; stretching its wings, it leaped into the air. Alice watched with awe as the beautiful thing glided away on the clouds.

"It's beautiful isn't It." the boy with the brown eyes (who Alice had now discovered was called chaol) looked directly at her for the first time. A smile tugged at his mouth and he looked at her with such affection for someone she had only just met. "Come let's walk, I'm sure that you have lots of questions for me"

It turns out that she did: where was Absalom? Why had she appeared in wonderland again? Why couldn't she remember anything from what had happened before she had fallen down here? She had tried to remember several times now and every time all she could recall was a flash of pain; and then blackness, a total nothing: a personal oblivion.

The question Alice did ask was the one that had been on her mind for a while now: "what is the prophecy?" Choal sighed and sat on a bench in a little clearing that they had walked into.

"That's a hard one," he said pulling a hand across his face, "let's start from the beginning. Wonderland was once a great land of peace and tranquillity. It wasn't divided and the kingdom lived happily together. One day the queen had four children: the current queen of diamonds and hearts and their brothers, the princes of spades and clubs. However, the queen died shortly afterwards and the king left to seek inner peace on the ocean. He never returned. Now, the king had left a grave friend of his in charge. He started off as the perfect ruler and everyone was happy. However, when the eldest child- the king of spades- turned thirteen, the king's friend began to panic. He had enjoyed the crown too much; he wasn't prepared to give it back. So he turned to sorcery".

Everything was quiet apart from the prince's voice. Even the birds and trees held their breaths so as not to miss any part of the story. It had Alice in a throttle of tension and suspense; but surely magic isn't real? "I don't think I believe in magic", said Alice rather timidly. The prince just looked at her and opened his palm. On it was a small white flame. Alice let out a small shriek and tried aimlessly to bat the fire out. Chaol just chuckled and continued on with his story. Alice was baffled by his trick but was intrigued by his voice and the lives of the other worlders.

"The sorcerer tried to kill the royal children in their sleep but each of them were powerful and there rooms were heavily guarded. So, he cursed them. Each of the four children would fly into a ferocious rage if they saw one another. When the little queen of hearts awoke one morning, she saw her siblings and slit two of their throats. The young princess of diamonds managed to flee but her brothers had been murdered by her older sister. When the children grew up, the kingdom divided and became the wonderland we know today. Half devoted to the red queen, and half to the white. The country has been in an endless war that can never be ended ever since."

"Why can the war never end?" Asked Alice who was always the peace maker.

"Because they are sisters, they still love each other and don't want to see the other killed but can't do anything about the war because every time a subject of red lays their eyes upon a citizen of white: they try to kill each other."

"That's terrible! I still don't see what it has to do with me and that picture I saw on the mushroom though."

Chaol looked thoughtful for a while and then said: "you are the descended." As if this was an acceptable answer, he stood up and walked away into the gardens, calling something over his shoulder as he did so.

"you'll find out soon enough."


End file.
